


There Are No Flowers Here

by northofthehouse



Series: Domestic Habits [3]
Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domestic, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Multi, OT3, Polyamory, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-19 22:20:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15519882
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/northofthehouse/pseuds/northofthehouse
Summary: Minseok only works when he wants to, but whenever he does, he comes home a little out of sorts. As always, it takes some love and kisses from Chanyeol and Sehun to make him better again.





	There Are No Flowers Here

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted on AFF. (Possibly) Also a repeat post to AO3 from my previously orphaned account (I don't remember what I posted and what I didn't). Not plagiary!

Minseok reached to grab his phone from where he'd previously tossed it onto the passenger seat of his car, checking the screen for confirmation that the time displayed in neon numbers upon his dashboard was an accurate indicator of how late it really was. The wedding reception had finished around 4 and Minseok knew he should have been home hours ago—he had the missed calls from both Chanyeol and Sehun to prove it—but when he had finished working, he just hadn't had it in him to go back. Not at first anyway. He loved Sehun and Chanyeol, sure, but Minseok had always had a hard time with photographing other people's matrimonial happiness when he knew he would never have his own.

That's why he didn't go home just yet. It wasn't fair, he knew, to subject his two lovers to this situational bitterness; Minseok didn't regret his choice to love them both, but he realized how it would look if he came home upset about the fact that he wasn't getting married anytime soon. Chanyeol would probably try to laugh it off, but his forehead would crease in that somber way Minseok hated and the giant would start to twiddle with his college class ring, moving it back and forth and back and forth from his thumb to his index finger. Sehun's distress would be more palpable, more visible, more verbal. He would pout his lip and pull repeatedly down on his earlobe, maybe even bite his cuticles and whimper in his sleep if Minseok's pain hurt him enough.

No, Minseok thought pensively, Chanyeol and Sehun did not deserve that.

He looked at his phone once more as it began to vibrate repeatedly in his hand, but rejected Sehun's call like he had all the others. Not yet, he thought, I'm still not ready. His lover, though, didn't seem to get that memo because Minseok's screen lit up again as the buzzing resumed.

This time, Minseok did nothing and merely tossed the phone haphazardly next to him before placing his hands to rest on the steering wheel. From where he'd parked on the scenic overlook, Minseok could see the entirety of Seoul glittering in the night's darkness, and his photographer's instincts itched to capture the image so that others could also share in appreciating the beauty that was before him. Views like that were a pleasant reminder of why Minseok picked his profession in the first place, and they helped a lot when he was trying really hard to remember the good points of his job.

He didn't really need to work—Luhan's money in an overworked Chanyeol's bank account ensured that all three of them were comfortable—but Minseok figured that if he was going to be taking pictures anyway, he might as well get paid for it. That was Sehun's take on dancing too, actually, and Chanyeol liked his job well enough that he didn't really mind being their household's main financial supporter. Minseok and Sehun did their part too, of course, but Minseok's two lovers were very aware of the toll it took on him whenever he had a job, so if it were up to them, Chanyeol and Sehun would tell Minseok not to worry about working at all—they didn't need the money, and he didn't need the pain.

In the deepest recesses of his heart, though, Minseok believed he did need it—that gut-wrenching pain—because without it he was too happy. Without the bitterness that festered after every photographed ceremony and every organized photo shoot, Minseok would have forgotten what it was like to want something more from life than he already had. Secretly, the pain was good because the pain reminded Minseok that he had Chanyeol and Sehun and that he was lucky. So, so lucky. It was a terrible dichotomy—being reminded of things he couldn't have and then making himself revel in it—but Minseok was confident in his ability to handle it himself. That's another reason he hadn't gone immediately home: his lovers didn't need to know how Minseok felt about the pain—not when they experienced so much themselves.

A sudden knock at the driver's side window startled Minseok from his pensive reverie. He glanced toward the intruding face looming through the glass and wasn't quite sure what his feelings were when he discovered Chanyeol's warm brown eyes staring back at him. The click of the car door unlocking echoed throughout the cab and Minseok shivered as a cool wisp of air gently caressed his neck. He was not surprised when Sehun's body folded itself into the vehicle soon after, though he did wonder briefly how the latter had managed to unlock Minseok's car.

Chanyeol tapped on the window once more, but Minseok remained immobilized in his seat, so Sehun had to lean across his lover's lap in order to unlock and open the driver's door, as well as move back the chair. As he returned to his seat, Sehun grabbed Minseok under the arms and pulled the elder toward him, allowing Chanyeol the space to slip behind Minseok and settle himself comfortably. Once situated, Chanyeol relocated their third lover from Sehun's grasp, wrapping his long arms around Minseok's smaller form and cuddling the latter lovingly against his chest.

"Minnie," Chanyeol soothed softly, "baby." At his words, Minseok started to shake with muffled sobs, and it took five minutes and the efforts of both his lovers until he could calm himself again.

Minseok felt slim fingers brush away lingering tear tracks from his cheeks as rougher—yet somehow also gentler—hands ran soothing fingers through his hair. He hiccuped loudly and the noise seemed enough to break the silence because Sehun shifted his body toward Minseok and said pleadingly, "Won't you come home, Min-hyung-ah? We miss you, right, Yeollie?" Chanyeol nodded vigorously in confirmation and his grip on Minseok's shoulders tightened.

Though he wanted to scoff that he'd been home less than ten hours ago and had seen Sehun that very morning, Minseok instead let out a choked cross between a laugh and another sob. "I was working," he managed to explain, "you knew that."

"Yes," Chanyeol agreed slowly before honing in on what he really wanted to know. "But why," he asked soothingly, "were you crying?"

"Are you that sad to see us?" Sehun added, sounding almost hurt.

"No!" Minseok almost shouted, growing tense in Chanyeol's arms and making sure to face Sehun and grasp his lover's hand before continuing. "Nothing like that at all," he clarified. "And it doesn't matter anyway; you know how I feel about weddings."

Minseok felt a soothing kiss on the top of his head as Chanyeol's lips brushed across Minseok's hair to meet Sehun's as the latter moved closer. After kissing Chanyeol briefly, Sehun lowered his head to peck Minseok as well, brushing back his lovers hair and looking the elder in the eyes as he did so. "Then let's get married."

Chanyeol's hands, which had been drawing calming circles on Minseok's thigh, suddenly stopped and Minseok himself let out a surprised gasp of shock. "Married?" he asked with a start. "You want to get married?"

Sehun shrugged and Minseok thought his younger lover was being entirely too nonchalant about the whole situation. "Not particularly," Sehun replied. "Actually," he clarified quickly at the crestfallen look on Minseok's face, "I don't mind either way. But I know how much it means to you and how sad other people's weddings make you, so yeah, let's get married."

There was a polite cough from behind Minseok and he could hear warm vibrations against his back as Chanyeol tried his best to remind the other two of his existence. "Um, Sehunnie," he started to say, but Sehun cut him off with an eye roll and a swat against his arm.

"Not just me and Minseok-ah, silly. You too," Sehun stated firmly. "I love you both and you love me, so why not? Let's get married."

Chanyeol nodded excitedly, quickly warming up the idea now that he knew this wasn't Sehun and Minseok's passive aggressive way of breaking up with him. "Woot! Married! Hell yeah I wanna get married!" he exclaimed explosively.

Chanyeol and Sehun turned toward Minseok, both looking every bit like two children asking their mother for candy. "Please, baby," Chanyeol begged, looking down to turn the full force of his puppy-dog aegyo on Minseok, "let's get married."

Though he hated to be the voice of reason that crashed their happiness train, Minseok shook his head in a firm no. Sehun and Chanyeol gaped at him but his response was nothing personal—it was all practical, actually. "How are we going to get married?" He asked, not unkindly—just because he knew it wasn't possible didn't mean he hadn't loved seeing how hopeful the other two were about it. "We're gay men in South Korea, for god's sake. Homosexuality is barely permitted here; you think they're going to let us get married." He shook his head once more before continuing. "Think again."

A pout appeared on Sehun's full lips and Minseok wasted no time in trying to kiss it away. It was a suddenly idea and not Minseok's kisses, though, that brought the previous grin back to Sehun's beautiful face. "I've got it!" he cheered, and Minseok felt Chanyeol move his whole body forward in subconscious eagerness. "We'll just move to America."

"Sehun, my love," Chanyeol crowed, rewarding his lover with a shower of kisses, "you are a genius. America, here we come!"

Minseok laughed out loud at this, finally starting to feel better about again. He appreciated his lovers' silliness more than they knew and he told them as such. Sehun, though, quickly shushed him with a stage whispered, "Psst, hyung. You're being a downer," so Minseok just shut up and let the other two have their fun.

Eventually, though, Minseok felt compelled to point out that even if they managed a move to the U.S., planned a wonderful wedding ceremony, bought a house boat and fished for income—that suggestion was uniquely Sehun's—they were still in a nontraditional relationship. In other words, there was no way the U.S. government was going to allow Minseok to legally marry both of his lovers at the same time. It just wasn't going to happen.

Sehun's pout reappeared but this time Chanyeol's lips beat Minseok's to it to plant a sweet and lingering kiss against their other lover's frown. "Don't worry, Sehunnie," Chanyeol cooed reassuringly. "I've read the news, okay? In America they believe in marriage equality which means anyone can marry as many anyone's as they want."

He grinned confidently as he finished speaking, and Minseok loved Chanyeol dearly but thought his taller lover could be a little confused sometimes. Sehun's pout became a furrowed brow of adorable confusion. "Pretty sure, not," Sehun said eventually, after having clearly considered Chanyeol's words and deeming them impossible. "Nowhere that perfect exists in the world."

Unfortunately, Minseok knew Sehun's words rang true, and that even Chanyeol silently agreed. "Well," Minseok stated in the car's suddenly reflective silence, "this might be a close second I think. Being here, like this. With you two." He added lovingly, curling an arm around Sehun's and snuggling deeper into Chanyeol.

Sehun kissed Minseok cutely on the nose and then the forehead. "I'm sorry you had such a horrible day.

"I'm glad we could help to make it better," Chanyeol chimed in with a comforting kiss of his own.


End file.
